Attached to Elmer’s tweet was a photo of a person wearing a Nixa High School Gay-Straight Alliance T-shirt. The photo showed only the torso. The shirt itself features an icon of gay, straight and lesbian couples with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Below is the word “HARMONY.”

Elmer told the News-Leader he was at a book fair after attending a parent-teacher conference for his third-grade child where he saw two high school students wearing the shirts.

“I just think it’s inappropriate to be promoting any sexual relationship in an elementary school, whether it’s heterosexual or homosexual,” Elmer said.

The lawmaker said the shirts interfere with his ability to parent and decide when he should discuss certain topics with his children.

“It’s not a gay rights issue, it’s a parental issue,” Elmer said.

Elmer also said he does not take issue with high school students belonging to a gay-straight alliance or expressing their views, only with the place, in this case an elementary school.

Stephanie Perkins, deputy director of PROMO, a Missouri LGBT advocacy organization, said children as young as the third grade have likely interacted with LGBT individuals.

“LGBT people are everywhere in the community,” Perkins said.

She encouraged parents to have age-appropriate conversations with their children and that resources are available.

Asked to comment, Zac Rantz, Nixa Schools spokesman, was able to say little beyond stating that the district has many student-initiated groups.

“Yes, we do have, under the Equal Protection Act, which is federal law, we have student-initiated groups in the school district which includes the Gay-Straight Alliance but also includes the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and other groups like that,” Rantz said.

Condemnation of Elmer on social media was swift.

“What an interesting failure! Asking students to accept people for who they are. The face of today's GOP,” the user @OldDrum wrote.

Elmer said it has become difficult to discuss the issue of homosexuality openly.

“The homosexual, gay issue in today’s society is so hypersensitive, you can’t talk about anything without them jumping on you and being totally negative,” Elmer said.